Nigel Adams: “Time for a fair deal for England”

Nigel Adams: “Time for a fair deal for England”

“I am delighted that the people of Scotland have spoken and that they have decisively voted to keep our country of four nations together.

It would have been terrible to see our United Kingdom come to an end but we now have a unique opportunity to change the way people here in Selby and across Britain are governed for the better.

Our Parliament must now advance the interests of people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland aswell as those in Scotland. It is absolutely right that any new settlement for Scotland should be echoed in all parts of the United Kingdom.

A crucial part of this national discussion, missing for a long time, is England. We have heard the voice of Scotland and now the voices of England must be heard.

There are two main issues which need to be addressed. Firstly, under an out of date arrangement known as the Barnett Formula, Scotland receives around £1,600 more per head of population in central government grants than England. This is so obviously unfair to English taxpayers and there is little wonder that Scotland is able to provide it’s citizens with all sorts of things like free prescription charges and free university education. English residents can currently only dream of such benefits.

Secondly, I am delighted that Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that he intends for Scotland to vote separately in the Scottish Parliament on tax, spending and welfare. This must be replicated in England.

Having MP’s representing Scottish constituencies being able to vote in Parliament on laws that do not affect their constituents and apply only to England is plain wrong and unfair. Dealing with the so called “West Lothian question” means Scottish MP’s should not be able to vote on matters that do not affect the people they represent.

David Cameron has made it clear that this change to our voting arrangements in Parliament must take place in tandem with any new settlement for Scotland and Nick Clegg has indicated the Lib Dems support.

The eyes of my constituents and everyone across England will now be on the Labour leader Ed Miliband to see how he reacts to this simple matter of fairness. Mr Miliband needs to do the right thing and get the Labour Party to support this long overdue change. I very much hope that Labour and Mr Miliband do the right thing and put the national interest before the Labour Party’s interests.

The referendum caught the imagination of people here in North Yorkshire and across the country. Now we must look forward and turn this into the moment when everyone comes together to build a better, brighter future for our whole United Kingdom.”